The 16-foot skiffs date from 1901. The story of their foundation and early years of evolution of the boats within restricted rules is in Chapter 4 of The Open Boat book, so I won't repeat it here. The skiffs became the most numerous of Australian open boat classes by the 1940's and '50's. There is so much history to cover that I have hesitated to start on this website, but I recently rediscovered a poster that class stalwart the late Jack Ray had put together in 2000, and I have posted it below. Any 16-foot skiff historians can get access to post on this page if they contact me.

Jack Ray's information poster, compiled 1981, revised 2000.

Here are a few pictures of a model of a 16-foot skiff which the attached plaque claims was built in 1946 (the model I think) by Ted Collis, one of the legends of the St George Sailing Club. However I can can find no reference to a 16-footer named Weenee. There was an Oweenee in the early years of 16-foot skiffs about 1905, but if this model copies a particular boat it must be a much later one as there is a suggestion of laminated timber. The model shows the universal batten-seam carvel planking and all of the typical features of the class, features that were established fairly early on in the first years of the 20th Century and continued with little change until the mid-1950's. If anyone can help identify the boat that would be great. It is possible though that it was a generic model, just to show what a typical skiff was like. Perhaps the name is a contraction of Teenee-weenee. Anyway its a superb model. Courtesy of Steve Kavanagh.

​Steve Kavanagh also supplied this scrapbook image from the West Australian of 5 January 1929, the day of the first heat of the Australian 16-foot skiff Championship held in Perth WA. The favourite, local boat Verona (pictured first) won the series, and Victor II (pictured second) was a close second. Victor II was owned and steered by Queenslander Vic Lucas who went on to win the Championship in later years before moving into 21-foot restricted class boats and then into 18-footers, and was very successful in those classes as well.